A Mulch Experiment

I'm not a huge fan of mulching the garden paths, but in the years since we started using the broadfork, it has made more and more sense to put down some sort of mulch that will decompose into the soil, hopefully enriching it while holding in moisture and controlling weeds a bit.

For the last couple of years, I have put down paths of pine needles at a shallow depth (so as to not change the pH of the soil).  But this year, I'm trying grass clippings.

Another thing I'm not a big fan of:  mowing the grass.  But this year, there have been a number of weeks that the task has fallen to me because of Mr. FC&G's work schedule.  I can't mow the entire yard with the push reel mower, and I am allergic to grass particles to a certain extent, so it became a necessity for me to use the bagging attachment just to save me from a miserable night of sneezing.  So, I seem to have a great deal of grass clippings.

Since we don't chemically treat our lawn, I have felt pretty secure using the clippings to mulch the paths, or, in the case you see in the photo, around the raised beds.  My plants seem to be doing well, but time will tell if I can see any impact on the garden, positive or negative.

I'll hold off doing a Fast, Cheap, and Good analysis on this until I get results.  Until then, do you mulch your garden paths?  What do you use?